Although his career was cut short by murder at age 27, Fat Pat left behind a formidable body of songs that have continued to influence Houston hip-hop culture long after his death. Greatest Hits combines half of each of Pat’s two official releases — Ghetto Dreams and Throwed In da Game, both from 1998 — and adds unreleased tracks and songs on which he guested. Pat did not singlehandedly invent the lexicon of Houston hip-hop, but it's safe to say that without him, there wouldn’t be nearly as many rappers talking about “sipping lean,” “gripping grain” and “candy paint dripping.” Dozens of the verses that appear here have been chopped and pasted to form the hooks in other songs, such as Z-Ro’s “From the South,” Trae’s “Swang” and Paul Wall’s “Gotta Get It,” all of which became classics in their own right. Pat had a way of making every verse memorable, a skill drawn from the early years of hip-hop history, when you had to rely on a unique delivery to be noticed. “Tops Drop,” “Jammin’ Screw” and “Am I a Playa” are among the obvious classics, but the crown jewel is “25 Lighters,” one of the finest hip-hop songs ever made.